


Crossed and Double Crossed

by Siriusfanatic



Series: At World's End [2]
Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-13
Updated: 2013-04-13
Packaged: 2017-12-08 10:00:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/760077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siriusfanatic/pseuds/Siriusfanatic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After learning of Jack's untimely death, Hector travels with Will, Elizabeth, Gibbs and the gang to Singapore to retrieve the charts needed to travel to Davy Jones' locker. Of course, Sao isn't simply going to hand them over. Hector has to play dipolmat with some...interesting results.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crossed and Double Crossed

He had sat month or so more in that same solitude with only Tia Dalma for company before he heard the name of Jack Sparrow again. He passed the time by practicing his swordsman ship with any brave native that would challenge him, charting stars when he could find them above the swamp canopy and listening to swamp woman's tales of pirates and men long dead before even his grandfather had been alive.  
One particularly dark and unsettling day came, where try as he might Hector could not sleep. Outside the rain crashed down, covering the swamp in an endless white noise of water. It should have been soothing, but instead Hector felt himself falling into a stupor; sleep without rest. He laid on his stomach and stared out the little window above the bed, watching the wall of rain as it shifted in the occasional breeze, thinking of nothing at all, his mind blank. Something felt out of place, though he couldn't put a name to it.  
Then as suddenly as it had started the day before, the rain stopped all together. For a moment the air hung silent and still and Barbossa blinked awake, sitting up. As he did, he heard the sudden clatter of a bead striking the wooden floor. He realized Jack's bead, which he had been holding in his palm, had slipped. He tried to chase it down, but it disappeared between the cracks in the old warped wood and was gone.  
His primate, whom until then had been sleeping in the netting that hung above the bed sat up then, dark eyes highly alert. Hector stared back at him. "What is it, wee Jack?"  
The monkey skittered towards the window and gave a little nervous shriek. Something had spooked him. The pirate stood and motioned the animal into the crook of his arm where he stroked his head and back and cooed to it. Little Jack hid his face in his chest. Then Hector heard it. A low, long mournful howl that came from outside. He stood very still, listening. The howl faded, but it was soon followed by another, and another, until it became like drone to his ears.  
He came down stairs to find Tia Dalma standing near the door, with it flung wide. The ominous sad song wafting in the air that gave the pirate a chill right down to his bones. He came to stand beside her, looking out into the dark swamp. Though he could barely see the lines of boats and other suspended shacks among the trunks of submerged trees, he could see that there was growing amount of candle light. One by one tiny flames flickered into existence, followed by the sad moan that wafted in on the air. "What is it?"  
She drew her shawl about her shoulders, her dark features sullen and remorseful. "Another soul has passed from dis world." she said softly. Hector nodded, scratching lightly at the green silk bandana tied crookedly around his forehead, one corner of it dipping down towards his right eye as he was accustomed to wearing it. "Someone ye knew?" he asked.  
She turned her dark eyes on him, touching his arm, but other wise said nothing as she turned back inside. Hector drew the door closed behind them, though it did little to drown out the sound. "Is it always like this when someone dies?"  
"Ya do not mourn the dead?" she asked him, sinking down upon the stool around her cluttered table, sweeping much of it clear and pulling from a self dust laden navigational charts. Barbossa looked at her curiously, scratching his beard. "Mourn them? No. There are things far worse than death."  
"How right ya are, Barbossa." She motioned him closer, her fingers crawling across the old scroll. "Tell me, are ya ready for the task which is appointed to ya?"  
"Yer little errand with the Brethern Court?" he replied, trying to hide his excitement at the prospect of leaving this place. He peered towards the charts beneath her hand, trying to catch a glimpse of the destination. He expected to see the location of Ship-Wreck Cove; the secret meeting grounds of all the legendary Pirate Lords and their crews for centuries. But instead he saw the Malay Peninsula and closer still, Singapore. "Do not think that work before ya is but child's play, Hector Barbossa. The song has been sung. The Court has been called. But not all will heed it. For those few, you must persuade them that a call to arms is the only option all of yer kind have left unto dem."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Are ye familiar with one black hearted soul named Cutler Beckett?"  
Barbossa didn't move, but his eyes gave a flash that she didn't miss. It was a harrowing memory, one that certainly had shaped the course of his history. There had come a day, when Jack and Hector were still serving aboard Teague's ship, that it had been boarded by members of the East Indian Trading Company. While they didn't manage to take the ship, they took a good number of hostages, among them Jack Sparrow. Hector remembered frantic weeks of endless search and pursuit to retrieve the captain's son before he could be sentenced to hang. When he found him again, it was to Sparrow causing madness and mayhem, along with a new branding and a new friend; Bootstrap Bill Turner.  
"I might have heard the name before," he said dubiously. "Seems I recall he was the same man who gave Jack the branding upon his arm, just to count one of the damages he inflicted upon the whelp and overs like him."  
"Beckett has made a deal with devil. And it involves the utter destruction of all free men who sail the seas." She continued. "It seems the rule of man over seas, has turned the tides against them." She gave him a vicious smile, which he returned with a smug one. He was growing more confident around her these days, as they had formed a strange sort of bond that Hector could not quite put a name to. "And now we be needin' your help to put it right."  
"Exactly." she chuckled, standing in front of so she could toy with the medallion around his neck. "And what has this to do with Singapore?"  
"The Sleeping Dragon holds the key you seek. Either ya will convince him to relinquish it to you, or you will take it by force. Either way, Sao Feng will be pleased to see you." Hector shuddered at the prospect of having to face Sao again. It had been almost twelve years since he had seen him last, and they hadn't exactly parted then on good terms. "Yer not going to make this easy for me, are ya?"  
"Redemption is never an easy thing."  
"And...what of this key I'm supposed to seek there?"  
She moved away, seating herself again and ignored his question. He knew better than to pry. No use getting an immortal to tell you something she did not want you to know. At least not yet. He looked back towards the door, where he could still hear the hallowed dirge drifting in from the dark. "Light some candles, would ya me dear? Let in some light to keep away the dark."

By the time he had finished, the shack seemed to glow with warm yet eerie candle light. Wax dripped from every shelf, every alcove, every perch he could find. Outside the song went on, and when he peered out the windows he could see that more and more of the swamp waters was illuminated. It puzzled him to think of anyone who could produce such a reaction in their passing, especially to these people who were so isolated from the rest of the world.  
"Go up stairs." The woman at the table said then without preamble, startling him as he blew out a match. "What fer?"  
"Do as I say. And keep dem ears open."  
He muttered a curse at her and headed towards the stairs again, disappearing just as he heard a boat docking out front. Why she chose to keep him hidden from some and not others was beyond him, as Barbossa could not think of any enemies he had here. All the same, he didn't feel in the mood for arguing.

Soon he heard the heavy foot falls of a dozen or so footsteps and voices, but they were all sullen and grief stricken, and none of them contained the familiar tones and accents of Tia Dalma and her fellow natives. These were English voices he heard.  
"Ya come to me with heavy hearts," he heard the witch say to her guests as they shuffled inside. The voice of Joshamee Gibbs replied; "Aye, my lady. Tis a heavy burden we've come to lay upon you. 'Tis to my great sorrow that I must inform ye–,"  
"Jack Sparrow is dead." Will Turner cut in harshly then, and threw his dagger into her table with a bitter thud. Behind his sight, Barbossa felt the wind knocked from him. He almost charged into that room to look that pasty skinned whelp in the eye to call him a liar. Jack had been called dead a hundred times over, from various tragedies and misdeeds. Each time the rumor turned out to be untrue. Jack had an uncanny knack for avoiding death and fate. Still, somehow...this time it didn't feel a lie. That empty feeling he'd felt in his chest that morning...was that Jack?  
"How did 'e die?" the lady asked, bringing Barbossa's attention back to the conversation.  
"Eaten alive. By the Kracken." Gibbs replied, leering at Will, who had sunk into a chair and would not look at anyone, not even his fiancee Elizabeth Swann.

Now there was death that it was not so likely Jack could escape. And Barbossa knew what a horrible death it must have been, for he had seen Davy Jones' beast but once before on aboard the ship that had stranded him in the South China Sea, one of the only crew to survive the ordeal.  
He sunk to the floor, hardly able to believe it. He didn't quite understand this feeling of...was it loss?...that he was experiencing then. It wasn't as if Sparrow was still his to mourn, after all. He'd given up that right along with everything else when he had chosen the gold over the man he loved. He didn't even love the scurvy knave any more at any rate, and it was inevitable that sooner or later something would put an end to him.  
Then why did he feel so empty?  
On his knee he heard little Jack give a little screech, pawing at his face. Hector blinked and looked down, realizing his face was damp. He brushed at and found tears there. It stunned him, for he had not cried in longer than he could remember. "Damn me for a sentimental old fool..." he muttered.

Below the conversation continued; "It's a shame," Tia was saying to the others, especially Turner, who had taken up throwing a dagger repeatedly into her table in angry, absent way. "I know you're t'inking with da Pearl ye could be catchin' the devil and set free yer fadder's soul."  
"It doesn't matter now. The Pearl's gone. Along with it's captain." Will replied. Hector moved a little further into the stairwell without revealing himself. So Jack had gone down with the Pearl. Surprisingly honorable of him, and not surprising. He loved that ship more than he had loved anything. Hector was the proof of that obsession.  
Gibbs waxed poetic on the captain for the moment, and as he did, Hector took in the shabby crew that had gathered to mourn there in the witch's hovel. The usual players were present, but it was the change in cast that interested him. To see Elizabeth Swann and Turner together, though clearly separated was interesting. There was a definite tension there that could be seen even to his eyes. Something had passed between the two sickening love birds to drive a rift between them. He knew that thing could only be Sparrow, as upon their last meeting Jack had gone to extraordinary lengths to prove his affections for the lad. And Will had been all too eager to please.  
Barbossa scowled at him. He reminded him far too much of his father then. That seem, greedy devious streak apparently ran in the blood. And while all the other members of the group seemed truly mournful of Jack's loss, Will looked strangely angry and focused on the loss of the ship.  
Perhaps Jack had been wrong about the boy.

"If there were some way to bring him back," Will muttered then, turning to look at the flaxen haired woman crouched in a corner away from him. "Elizabeth...?"  
But before he could say what was on his mind, Tia Dalma cut in. "Would you do it? Hmm?" Her proposal stunned them all. "What would you do? What would any of you be willing to do? Would ya sail to the ends of the eart' and beyond...to fetch back witty Jack and him precious Pearl?"  
Not surprising that Gibbs was the first to speak up; "Aye!"  
"Aye!"  
As the chorus continued, Hector began to understand the Goddess's plan. "To sail to the ends of the earth"...Well, there was only one way to go about that. Just like there was only one way of fetching back what Davy Jones has taken for himself. And the answer to both questions lay in wait for him...in none other than Singapore and the hands of his old enemy.  
Finally it was clear. This was her game, the gauntlet she had laid down for him. Fetch back Jack from Hell itself, convene the Court and free her from her human bindings in order to save them all from destruction at the hands of Beckett and all enemies of the sea. He stood then and came striding down from his hiding place, watching as their eyes widened in disbelief.  
"So, tell me...what's become of my ship?"

A collective shout went up from the unsuspecting group. Will reached at once for his pistol, as did Gibbs, though the old man seemed a little too stunned to get a grip on. Elizabeth gave a shriek, sending Cotton's parrot screeching into the rafters. "Captain!" Pintel and Ragetti gasped together. They skittered away from the rest of the group. "We was just waiting for you the whole time! We was never–!"  
"Belay that!" Hector barked, glaring down Turner who looked ready to shoot him, were it not for Tia Dalma coming to stand so close to him that she put an arm around his waist. "If ye plan to brave the weird and haunted waters at world's end, you'll be needin' a captain what knows d'ose waters." she explained.  
"Aye, you're gratitude for my services be not necessary." he grunted, pushing down the barrel of Turner's pistol. Will stared at him with wide eyes. "You're dead! I saw Jack shoot you!"  
"So did I!" Elizabeth exclaimed, for the first time coming to stand at Turner's side. Barbossa gave a little bow to her, "Miss Swann. Lovely as ever."  
"As for me death, I was indeed. Seems however death doesn't have much staying power these days." He gave Tia Dalma a knowing glance from the corner of his eye. "But ye need not concern yourselves with the details. All I require from you is your loyalty as crew."  
"I'll never call the likes of you 'captain'!" Gibbs bolstered then. "Poor Jack's not even cold yet, and already yer trying to replace 'im!" Hector looked hard at the old man. "Aye. And if any of ye hope to see that rum-soaked dandy of an idiot what calls himself Jack Sparrow, you'll do as I ask without hesitation or question!"  
He turned his head then towards Pintel and Ragetti who were quivering together in the corner and rolled his eyes. "You two," he sighed. "I've never yet figured it out what boon fate has bestowed upon ye to keep ye alive this long."  
"We missed you too, Captain." the blonde pirate grinned. Hector smirked. "Have ye a vessel fit for a voyage to the East China Sea?"  
"Aye." Will replied.  
"Then we sail at dawn."

 

 

***

Three weeks later...

 

"We sail tonight for Singapore, we're all as mad as hatter's here..." Hector chanted to himself nervously as he strode down the rain slick streets of the old ocean port, it's bright paper lanterns dangling above them like faint swirling beacons of light in the misty rain. Through the maze of back alleys and a series of rope bridges over the endless canals of the pirate city, he had found his way at last to the gates of the Sleeping Dragon's temple.  
Beside him, hidden under the wide brim of her bamboo peasant hat, Elizabeth Swann did her best to look inconspicious. "Are you sure going in alone is our best option?" the young woman asked, giving the older pirate a skeptical glance. Barbossa paused in his chant and gave a sigh as he looked at the high stone arch above their heads leading to a long stretch of stairs and the temple doors beyond. "It be this or take our chances with fighting the temple guards for the charts, and that's before the blue-coated Brits pour down on our heads to outnumber the lot of us two to one, and those, my dear girl, are not odds I care to wager on."  
"And yet you feel that facing those same guards and the dangerous reputation of the Pirate Lord of Singapore alone are better odds?" she retorted, folding her arms across her chest. "What makes you think he'll listen to you?"  
"Sao Feng and I have history too long and tangled to explain," he replied, removing from his belt a load pistol and shoving it into her hands. "If he be in a negotiating' mood, I'll be the one to do it. Now, should he not, that's what young master Turner is for."  
"So you believe that your methods will fail?"  
"I believe that Sao Feng is no fool."  
Elizabeth gave him a careful look, "What is it you need Jack for?" she asked then, startling him.  
"Now be not the time, girl." He shook his head. "Now, don't stray far and for the sake of us all, keep out of trouble and preferably out of sight." He stuffed a stray bit of blonde hair that had escaped her braid hurriedly behind her ear, not wanting anything to draw unneeded attention to her. She swatted him off. "I can look after myself, thank you." she muttered.  
"Aye, that I believe." he nodded turning as he stepped through the archway to enter the temple beyond, leaving her waiting by the dock, alone and wondering.

 

Stepping into the temple yard, Hector felt like he was stepping into his old life. Not much had changed in all that time. Standing in the central yard he could see that stone walls; though they had begun to age and crumble a little as the rain slowly weathered them down, were still the same cold color. The stone dragons among the gardens still roared silently at intruders. The six columns supporting the roof were still the same vivid jade, and from the top the intricate stone carvings of beasts and gods looked down on him benevolently. Then he had been a young man with a status no higher than a slave, and Sao had been an eager apprentice to his uncle whom had taken pity on him.  
Climbing up the central stairway, he came to a veranda where incense burners wafted heavy sweet smelling smoke that drifted through the damp air like wisps of ghosts. It was here Barbossa encountered the temple guard. They were far from regal looking; two hulking, bulbous, obese bodies who looked just as likely to crush Barbossa under their girth so much as look at him.  
"What business have you at the Dragon's Temple, interloper?"  
"Captain Barbossa," he said withdrawing his hat and giving a bow, "I humbly request an audience with your lord, Sao Feng on matters of a most sacred and secret nature. If ye doubt me, ye may give him this." He removed his medallion from about his neck and flung it at them. The man on the left caught it and looked it over carefully. But they didn't need it to verify that Barbossa was whom he claimed. The scar upon his face, below his left eye was all the identification he needed, for it was few in Sao's court that did not know his story.  
"Wait here."

 

Inside the central hall there contained a large altar with several small statues of saints and deities. The altar, surrounded by finely carved and painted woodwork with a mixture of gold and red paint, paid quiet tribute to the God's Sao and his people so readily, perhaps even foolishly put their faith in. Hector had long ago learned to pay these rulers of mortal men their proper respect. Perhaps this humility was what had earned him Tia Dalma's favor in the first place.  
Another servant came to join him in the hall then, this one much smaller but just as mean looking. "Lord Sao Feng requests you leave all unnecessary affects with me. I will keep them until your meeting with him has been concluded."  
Barbossa smirked, for he had expected this measure. He removed his heavy pistol belt, his sword and scabbard, the twin daggers hidden in each of his boots, the boots themselves, and his coat. The servant gathered them all neatly and then reached to pluck the hat from the pirate's head, but Barbossa grabbed his wrist and twisted it. "The hat stays."  
"Very well. You may follow me."

He lead Barbossa down the left corridor, beyond the prayer chamber and gathering hall to what he guessed were the pirate lord's private chambers. He felt an uneasiness in his chest, but reminded himself that he needed to keep Sao preoccupied as long as possible to give Turner time to search and steal the charts. Without them, their mission would be over before it began, and soon they'd all be as lost and dead as Jack.  
The servant pushed open the heavy gold laden ornate doors leading to Sao's inner sanctum. It was dim, lit by sunlight from above and long rows of pillar candles below. The smell of incense in here was almost so staggering that it made Barbossa cough and feel a bit sleepy. Sao favored the smell of Poppy Flowers, and it always made him a little drowsy.  
The Sleeping Dragon himself was not visible. As the door shut behind him, Hector came to realize that he was lingering somewhere beyond the thick veil of silk curtains that obscured his bed chamber beyond this formal room which held a tea table and many ancient paintings and scrolls, and even pieces of Sao's father Sao Jiong's ship.  
"Show yourself, Sao. I know it's been many a year since I last laid eyes on ye–"  
A dagger came whizzing towards him from behind the shroud of curtain, struck Barbossa's hat and tore it from his head, pinning it to the wall where the dagger lodged itself, still quivering, steel humming.  
Hector rubbed his head, smoothing down the green bandana that was already sweat soaked. "Still angry, I see." he muttered.  
"Barbossa," A familiar voice hissed from the shadows beyond before emerging under the pale skylight. Each time Hector and Sao met, Barbossa was always startled by the other man's appearance as it always seemed altered in some new drastic way. This one was the most dramatic transformation he had seen yet; for Sao had become the image of his dead father. His head shaved neatly and his fu-man-chu styled beard full grown out, body heavily muscled beneath the slight fabric of his robes, he barely looked the boy he'd fallen in love with nearly a life time ago. "You have a death wish, showing up at my doorstep."  
"Afraid the opposite is true," Hector replied. "I'm on a mission to save lives, not end them." To his surprise, Sao kept his distance, survying him darkly. "My spies told me that you had come into Port yesterday. Yet you hesitate to seek me out. You are lucky I allowed you to enter this port alive."  
"Aye, and I be grateful."  
"You know nothing of gratitude." The other man snarled. He moved a little closer to him, and Hector held his ground. He almost wished the man would stay on the other end of the room, so that he could not see what had become of him since their last meeting. "I had heard that you were dead. Or cursed. The stories varied so that I could not be sure which was more favorable."  
"Aye," he answered again. "Both tales be true."  
Sao's almond shaped eyes widened a bit for a moment and he paused before speaking again. "What business do the dead and the cursed have in my waters? You are not welcomed here as you ounce were, Red Serpent. You have shamed yourself, and your name." He sneered. "And where is your loyal dog?"  
"If ye be referring to Jack Sparrow," Barbossa said, hand on his hip as he took a step closer to Sao so to keep his attentions, "He's dead."  
He watched the other man's face as it took in this information. His eyes widened, his body stiffened for a second and he turned to Barbossa, fully skeptical. "I have heard so many times."  
"This time it be the truth. He was killed by the Kracken at the behest of Davy Jones himself...to whom he sold his soul." The fact chilled Hector even as he said it. He always thought that was Jack's biggest blunder in life, to think that he could ever cheat his way out of such a deal with the devil himself. An eternity aboard the Flying Dutchman seemed hardly worth thirteen meager years as Captain aboard the Black Pearl. And Jack did not even get to serve those.  
This seemed to convince Sao Feng, for he smiled and sat himself neatly at the head of the table, a victorious smirk playing over his features. Hector wanted dearly to remove that smile by force, but for the moment he could not show his hand. "My condolences."  
This would be the difficult part. Hector sighed, staring awkwardly at the floor and his bare feet upon it. "I come to you to...beg forgiveness, though I deserve none." he began, trying to keep his tone even and contrite and to keep from growling the lies he had to tell. "I was wrong to choose Sparrow over you. It lead me to a grim fate, and I have lamented it for years."  
Sao remained seated, his dark eye brows perking slightly at this statement. He folded his hands neatly in front of his face as if in contemplation. "The Red Serpent has come to beg. You'll forgive me if I find that hard to believe."  
Barbossa made another move towards him, doing his best to look submissive. It was a thing he hated more than he could express, but for Jack...he'd endure it. "You see a ruined man, Sao. I come to you now as I did once before, alone and in need." Sao stood, looking him over carefully. He brushed a hand over his cheek, finger tracing the tear drop shaped scar he'd left there. "Yes...this is the face of a man who has known hardship."  
Hector gave him a real smile then, looking back at him. "Seems the world has not been kind to either of us." He touched the three long scars that covered the side of Sao's head, and the pirate lord captured his hand in his. "I...missed you."  
The words cost him to say, but it paid off. That look in the old dragon's eyes told him that he had him right where he wanted him. Hector dropped his hand to Sao's chest, toying with the bead around his neck for a moment, then moving inward over his chest. He'd never been good at flirting, and it had been ages since he'd "seduced" anyone. "I know I'm not the man I used to be, the years caught up with me. But you...you've just gotten stronger." He pushed the open edges of Feng's robe open and down his shoulders, revealing a powerful torso and strong arms that had seen hard work and many battles. The scar from the bullet he'd lodged in his shoulder was still there.  
"Hmmm..." Sao chuckled, watching the other man stand shyly in front of him, awkwardly undressing him and trying to play coy. "You did not come so far just to reminisce on past mistakes, Barbossa. What is it you want from me?"  
"Ye know me too well," Hector grinned, then leaned in and kissed Sao's neck, causing the other man to sigh happily. "I need a ship and a crew, as I've lost my own trying to get here."  
"That is an ambitious request for a groveling man," Sao purred.  
"I know. What would I have to do to–!" Hector did not get the rest of his proposal, as the next minute Sao had grabbed him by the front of his shirt, tore it open and flung him down upon the tea table, sending it's settings scattering everywhere to the sound of breaking china. Hector bellowed at the pain in his back and again as the other man fell upon him, struggling to tear him out of his clothes.  
"Sao! Sao! Slow down, dammit!"  
"Now you hesitate?" Feng panted, having pulled Barbossa out of his sash and waist coat and hurriedly working the buttons of his breeches. "You haven't changed, Hector..."  
Barbossa however was not about to let history repeat itself in this manner again. He grabbed the other man by the shoulders with a grunt and forced him down, rolling on top of him so that he could sit upon his stomach and pin his hands above his head. Sao blinked in surprise, eyes wide. "Turn about be fair play, Sao. I'm afraid I'm not the type to be submittin' so easily these days. Besides, I doubt it'd have the same thrill for you now as it did then." He grinned and bent down to kiss the man roughly, catching his lower lip between his teeth and giving it a nip before moving back.  
"I'm impressed," Sao huffed, trying to wiggle his hips free, but Barbossa had him effectively trapped so that he could not move in any meaningful way. "But no one has ever conquered the Sleeping Dragon."  
"Aye, then we be at an impasse."  
Suddenly Sao broke Hector's hold upon his right wrist, which snapped up, catching him the jaw and knocking him back. He fell back upon his ass, groaning with the pain in his skull before Sao was on him again, trying to wrestle him flat to floor. "I've a suggestion then," he grinned, reaching between the two of them as his robe came completely open and he managed to free Barbossa from the confines of his pants. Hector yelled as that familiar clawed hand closed around him roughly, as he hadn't been touched like that in far too long. He gritted his teeth, giving Sao a vicious bite on the throat to make him pull back. "Easy! Easy or I won't last...!" he grunted.  
He wrestled Sao onto his back again and pinned his hand above his head before gripping both of them with his own. Feng closed his eyes and moaned, hips grinding up against Barbossa's, completely lost in the heat of the moment. It was a mistake he would come to regret.  
He pulled the graying red-head down into another rough, passionate kiss before leaving his own bite upon his throat, and Hector picked up the pace, wanting it to be over. It wasn't just his lingering feelings of resentment and hate for Sao that tainted the encounter. It was that he sincerely hoped if he were to ever experience this again, it would be with Jack. He wasn't sure why that was so important to him, but it was. But sacrifices must be made.  
Hector yelled suddenly as he came, and Sao drew it out as long as he could, closing his hand over Barbossa's and taking up a faster, rougher pace that sent him over the edge a few seconds later with Hector gasping at the over sensitivity of his skin.

Finally the two laid in a heap upon the floor, Sao pulling the curtains down to serve as blankets around their nudity. They curled together like snakes, Feng toying with the braid of hair that had come free from Barbossa's bandana and Hector tracing battle scars along Sao's skin. "Mmm..." the pirate lord of Singapore purred in satisfaction. "That was...magnificent."  
Hector chuckled, feeling tired but grateful things hadn't gotten more out of hand. Perhaps Sao had lost a little of his potency if he'd let him off without tearing his ass apart. "Ye've lowered yer standards, luv." he chuckled, sitting up though Sao plucked at him to lie back down.  
"Where are you going?" he asked. "I hope you do not think I would let you go after that." He twirled his finger around a loose wave of Barbossa's hair. "You haven't begun to grovel."  
"First I need to know what you're decision is." Barbossa gave him a serious look, hoping that this challenge wouldn't come too soon and press his advantage. Surely by now Will had the charts and was well free of this place. He wasn't sure he was up to any further... "distractions".  
Sao stretched languidly like a cat and laid on his stomach, hiding nothing beneath the sheets. "Yes, your little endeavor. You may request it of me formally this evening, at my bath house. It will be a fitting induction into my command."  
"And yer bed, eh?"  
"To that, you are always welcomed, my Red Serpent." Sao grinned.  
"Then I'll inform my men and return." he said, easing himself up, trying to cover as much of himself as he could with his rumpled clothing. He dislodged his hat from the wall, poking a finger through the hole with a sour face before putting it back upon his head. Before he could turn around however, Sao forced him against the wall, a possessive hand reaching between his legs and grabbing his painful. "And Hector, my dearest," he hissed, his voice a deadly whisper now that sent Barbossa's heart racing; "be sure that you do not cross me again. For I assure you, it will be your last."  
He kissed him again before releasing him, and Barbossa left the temple without so much as a glance back. As he reached the front doors, the servant man presented him with his affects, and a smug smile. Hector cursed at him in Chinese and descended the stairs to find Elizabeth Swann and the boat gone.  
"Damn that girl!"

 

15 minutes later...

 

"Is it so much to do as yer told?" Hector muttered to her as they strode along the streets, this time heading for the bath house, knowing that the rest of their party were already below, working their way through tunnels beneath the bath house to ensure their safety.  
"You were in there so long I went for help." Elizabeth retorted curtly.  
"Ah, and you thought you'd find it here?" he muttered, nodding to their guide, the unscrupulous and devious Tai Huang, ahead. Elizabeth frowned. "I wasn't in trouble. I didn't need you to save me."  
"Aye, and neither did I need you to go for help. I told you, I know how to deal with Lord Sao Feng." He walked with a bit of a limp that did not go unnoticed by the young woman. "Did he hurt you?"  
Barbossa rolled his eyes. "Not of importance. You'd best be worrying about young Turner, not me." Her eyes shifted and her hands balled into worried fists. "I am worried about him. If he was caught..."  
"Then he is of no more use to us."  
"Is that all you can think of ? How to use people?"  
"It be the way of the world missy," he snapped. "Don't act as if you're a stranger to it."  
"I would never use someone the way you used Jack."  
Hector raised his hand to belt her across the face and when she flinched he grabbed her arm instead and shook her, giving her a wounded, angry look. "Never pretend to know what passed between me and that man, Ms. Swann. The facts of the matter would be too difficult for your delicate disposition." He snarled. Elizabeth was stunned, but not afraid. And as Hector stood so closely to her, she could now see the red angry mark upon his throat. "Your neck...!"  
Barbossa blinked and put his hand over it and quickly backed away from her. "It's nothing."  
"It's a bite mark!" she gasped, brown eyes widening. For all of the girl's previous naivety, it seemed that she had become more savvy in the ways of their world since he'd last had dealings with her. "Did he...did you...?!"  
Hector dipped his hat lower over his face and strode off without her, making her run to catch up with him. "My God...you did, didn't you?"  
"I don't know what ye be referrin' girl, so I think it best ye hold yer tongue."  
"Did he...force you?"  
Hector gave her a look that could curdle milk. "Do I look like a man ta be forced?!"  
"Well...no." she admitted. They walked in silence for a time, following their guide through the maze of the city, careful to stay well out of sight of the forces of the East India Trading Company that roamed it's streets, just looking for a pirate to make an example of.  
"You're a perplexing man, captain." she said finally as they traveled through an underground passage, her voice echoing slightly in the curved damp walls. Barbossa looked back at her and extended a hand to help her along the slick and broken stone flooring. "Ye've no idea, miss."

They arrived at last upon the bathhouse, hidden in the heart of the city. Their guide approached the heavy wooden door as a slat in it opened and the face of a man appeared. He gave the pass word and they were ushered hurriedly inside.  
Again, Barbossa found himself subject to search, though not nearly as thoroughly as Elizabeth. He was not surprised however. The man at the door was the same man who had taken his affects earlier at the temple. He gave Barbossa a knowing smirk that made him want to slap the look off his greasy little face. But he held his temper. Everything hung in the balance. It was up to Will now, Hector had done his part. Whether Sao would be fooled or not, that remained be to seen.  
Ounce inside, Hector almost wished he'd been forced to strip down as Elizabeth had, with naught but that thin little bit of shirt between her and the rest of the bathhouse patrons. He knew it had been for the servant's benefit as much as Sao's. He'd always had a thing for fair skin and fair hair. Hector shuddered, relieving his earlier ordeal. He sincerely hoped that whatever hell Jack was lingering in he appreciated the lengths he was going to rescue him from it.  
Sao stood with his back to them, having just emerged from his private bath which stood on a platform above the others. "Captain Barbossa," he announced gracefully, as though he had not seen the man just an hour ago. "Welcome to Singapore."  
Hector smiled and bowed, ushering Elizabeth to do the same. Barbossa held his smile. So far, so good. Through the cracks in the floor boards below he caught a glimpse of movement and knew that it was Gibbs and the others, ready should something go wrong. But it seemed like his plan had gone off without a hitch.  
Sao Feng, resplendent in his robes of black and jade, moved towards his guests, dabbing sweat from his face with a bright scarlet cloth. It reminded Hector of the scarf Jack wore around his forehead. "I understand you have a request to make of me."  
Hector stepped a little closer, feeling comfortable in his ruse. Sao was playing right into his little game. It was a powerful feeling, having the upper hand on a man who had so often held him beneath his thumb. "More of a proposal to put to ye," he answered warmly. Elizabeth was watching him with great interest and he did his best to ignore her, knowing what must be going through her mind at that moment. "I've a venture underway and I find myself in need of a ship and a crew."  
But Sao suddenly looked puzzled and scratched at his head, turning to his court of observers. "This is an odd coincidence..."  
Hector felt an immediate pull of nerves in his stomach. Something had gone wrong, this was not part of the plan. What was Sao playing at, feigning stupidity of the request? Had he changed his mind? Or had it ever been made up to begin with? Elizabeth moved beside him, daring to speak; "Because you happen to have a ship and a crew you don't need?"  
Hector cringed and gave her foot a little stomp to make her be silent. For a woman to speak out in Sao's court was an insult, and it would not do to make this situation worse. "No." the Sleeping Dragon growled at the girl. "Because earlier this day, not far from here, a thief broke into my most revered uncle's temple and attempted to steal this," One of his servants presented him with a rolled bundle of heavy bamboo, "The navigational charts. The route to the farthest gate." He gave Barbossa a long probing look, expecting to see a look of panic upon his face. But the aging pirate remained stoic and still. "Wouldn't it be amazing if this venture of yours took you to the world beyond this one?"  
Hector smirked, playing coy again. "It would strain credulity at that."  
Sao returned the smirk, nodding to his right. Barbossa and Elizabeth turned to see movement from two men who had been surrounding a covered tub as they suddenly pulled up on the heavy wooden pole stretched across it and revealed a half drowned Will Turner. Sao approached him casually, smiling as the man gasped for breath after being deprived for who knew how long. "This is the thief." He looked darkly at Barbossa. "Is his face...familiar to you?"  
They both shook their heads. "Then I guess he has no further need of it." He pulled his pike from belt and made to drive it through Will's skull, but Elizabeth gasped and gave them away.  
The pirate lord scowled furiously as he stalked towards them, leering at Barbossa. "So, you come into my city, and betray my hospitality!" he barked. Hector gulped, knowing that the situation was rapidly spiraling out of control. "Sao Feng, I assure you, I never–,"  
"THOUGHT HE WOULD GET CAUGHT?!" Sao screamed, getting in his face. He clouted the man across the face, leaving long bloody claw marks from his nails across his face. Elizabeth shouted again as Barbossa staggered, but he quickly righted himself, wiping the blood from his face and looking rather indignant. "There are bigger things at stake here, Sao. I didn't know if you could be trusted."  
"ME?!" the pirate lord thundered. "You come to me, groveling on your knees after all these years...and I take pity upon you. I gave you my trust!" He pointed angrily at Will. "And you throw in your lot with him?!"  
Hector blinked, realizing what he meant. "Dammit ye ol' jealous leacher, no! The boy be a means to an end and nothing more! What's wrong with you?"  
"You mean...you are not...?" He gave Will a curious look and soon he caught on to Sao's meaning as well. "You mean, you thought we were together?" His face twisted into an expression of disgust as the two young woman that flanked Feng's platform chuckled to themselves. He glared at them and they fell silent as he rounded on Barbossa again. "You intend to attempt a voyage to Davy Jones' Locker. When I can not help but wonder, why?"  
Hector flung something at him, which they quickly realized was a piece of eight. Sao caught it easily, hearing the vibration of the coin between his fingers. "The song has been sung. The time is upon us. We must convene the Brethern Court. As one of the nine pirate lords, you must honor the call." he stated, watching Sao's face for reaction. At first he seemed in disbelief, but that quickly faded. "So this is your true purpose for winning back my graces, Barbossa." Sao fiddled with the black bead around his neck, his own "piece of eight" which signified his status as a pirate lord. Though Hector also held this title in his own right, Sao had never acknowledged the fact. "There is a price on all our heads these days," he added wistfully. "Seems the only way for a pirate to turn a profit is by betraying other pirates..." His eyes flickered towards Turner, and the look did not go unnoticed. Hector stepped forward again, hoping he could force Sao to back down. "The Brethern Court gave us rule of the seas. And that rule has been challenged by Cutler Beckett! Will you stand aside and let the likes of him take what is rightfully ours?"  
Sao was not moved however, brushing him off. Hector knew he was too angry now to hear a word he said, however sensible it be. "And what would you have me do? What can any of us do?"  
"You can fight!"  
Hector cringed again, for this call came ounce more from Elizabeth, who moved to face him though he tried to hold her back. "You are Sao Feng, the Pirate Lord of Singapore!" Barbossa eyed her, fearing that in the next moment her head would be suddenly removed from her shoulders. But he did admire her fire and her passion. "...would you have that era come to an end on your watch? The most notorious pirates from around the world are uniting against our enemy, and yet you sit here cowering in your bath water!"  
This was a step too far and Hector knew it. He quickly pushed the girl behind him, hearing Gibbs and the other rustling below. He hoped they were prepared for the maylay that was about to commence, for he knew nothing he could do now would cool Sao's temper. Instead however, the pirate lord gave the girl an sinful appraising look, seemingly also impressed her guile. He'd seen that look before and didn't like the look of it at all. "Elizabeth Swann. There is more to you than meets the eye, isn't there? And the eye does not go wanting..."  
He turned sharply to Hector again, "But I can not help but notice that you have failed to answer my question." He stood so close to the other man that he could feel his breath on his face. It was an intimacy they had shared such a short time ago, but now it was menacing and suffocating. Still Hector would not be intimidated. Not anymore. "What is it you seek in Davy Jones' locker?"  
"Jack Sparrow."

It was the worst response anyone could have given, and when Hector heard it spouted from the lips of the captive Will Turner he wished fervently that the whelp had been left to drown. For if he thought that Sao looked angry before, it was nothing compared to the look he gave him then. He trembled physically, clawing at his head as he turned away. Barbossa shot Will a deadly look that told him just how terrible a mistake he had made.  
"The only reason...I would want Jack Sparrow brought back from the land of the dead...is SO I COULD SEND HIM BACK MYSELF!" In his rage he turned over a hot plate of coals sending them scattering across the floor, causing ever more steam to rise.  
He'd grown tired of these temper tantrums. He grabbed Sao by shoulder and turned him around, baring down on him with eyes bright and angry as the sea before a storm. And for once, Sao Feng fell silent in Hector's presence; "Jack Sparrow holds one of the nine pieces of eight. He failed to pass it on to a sucessor before he died! So we must go and get him back!"  
He prayed that if there was any sanity or glimpse of the man he had once known inside this beast that he would see that this task was above all the petty quarrels of the past. Without Jack, Beckett and the rest of the East India Trading Company would soon take every inch of sea for themselves, and the pirates would all be but extinguished from the earth. Surely Sao would not put his jealousy before that.  
He was wrong.  
"So you admit you have deceived me. Weapons!"  
Abruptly the room erupted in a flurry of movement as swords and pistols emerged from their hiding places, and all trained upon them. Even Sao himself drew his sword and thrust the end of it lightly beneath Hector's bearded chin. "I warned you Hector, that you would regret choosing him."  
"Aye, I have a regret." Barbossa nodded, giving a stamp of his boot heel. To the surprise of the Sleeping Dragon and his ilk, from the open slats of the wood below a pair of swords appeared; easily caught by Barbossa and Elizabeth. "But he isn't it."  
Sao trembled in fury, looking for a retort, then suddenly reached for the unsuspecting man to his left and held his sword to his throat. "Drop your weapons! Or I kill the man."  
Barbossa blinked and turned to look at Elizabeth and Will, who were both equally confused, then shrugged. "Kill 'im, he's not our man." Though this was not exactly the answer the hostage wanted to hear, Sao did not cut his throat. He seemed too confused to do so. Will spoke up again; "If he's not with us, and he's not with you...who's he with?"  
And explosion answered him as the door of the bath house was torn to cinders by an assault of British soldiers. The East India Trading Company had arrived...


End file.
